I attended a reunion this past Thursday. No, it wasn’t my high school or college reunion; I would never go to one of those. It was a reunion with the characters from ER, which aired its last episode after fifteen years of being on the air. That’s a long run for any television program, and it is evidence of the continuity that media can provide in a culture that is somewhat volatile. I may not be able to count on my job, government, or relationships, but I could—for the past fifteen years—count on ER being there for me. The continuity of programs such as this provide opportunities to establish imaginary social relationships with the program’s characters. I cannot express how good it felt to see Dr. Carter after all these years (I wondered what had happened to him), and all the other characters from ER I grew over a period of years to know (or at least I thought I did). I haven’t seen the program in quite some time, as I lost interest after the story lines became over-exaggerated (a sign of weak writing in my opinion – hint Grey’s Anatomy). But when I heard that NBC was airing the last episode on Thursday, I just had to watch. I even watched the pre-show in which characters and the producers spoke about the meaning of the program. I think this kind of event provides an opportunity for collective mourning – it is experienced as a loss by fans. I have characterized the loss elsewhere as being more like the loss of a pet then the loss of a close relative. Nevertheless, it is experienced as a loss. Going forward, there will be fewer opportunities to mourn our long held imaginary relationships as not many programs currently being aired provide the opportunity for deep engagement. I mean, are you really going to miss the characters on Survivor when it no long is aired? You can name any reality program you choose and apply the same logic. Okay, The Real World which has been on for a very long time, might be an exception. However, except for a couple of iconic characters, as the cast changed with every season, there was little opportunity to develop the kind of deep engagement that makes for an imaginary social relationship. The dramatic program Lost will not have the longevity of an ER. So, if you bond with one of the characters, the level of engagement will not be deep. Television content has become fleeting as ratings, not quality of writing, drive the medium. And, it’s a losing battle in a highly fragmented media landscape. Jay Leno, who will be moving from his late night slot, will fill ER’s time slot this fall. Yes, Jay Leno is an iconic figure for which many people have developed a para-social relationship. My point, however, is the 10 p.m. time slot is being filled not by a drama that over time develops characters whose dimensions we learn to admire, perhaps love. The media world, to me, is becoming volatile just like other institutions in our society. I yearn for long-running series in which I can find characters to identify with, characters I can admire, and characters I can learn from. It’s ironic, perhaps, how a superficial medium like television can provide a forum in which we can develop deep and abiding relationships. As television transforms into something else, we will have the opportunity to mourn, not just its content, but the loss of the medium itself.
10 comments:
I think the phenomenon Dr. Alperstein is describing in this post shows how every aspect culture is becoming more short-lived and aimed at instant gratification. I completely agree that there are very few long-running television dramas airing on television that allow consumers to form meaningful imaginary social relationships with characters on the show in the same way that ER did.
I myself am a huge fan of Grey’s Anatomy, a comparable example to ER, and I would undoubtedly be upset if the show went off the air. However, given the current story line (WARNING: SPOILER ALERT) that has Izzy being treated for advanced cancer, I have to admit I don’t feel the same attachment and concern for Izzy’s character as I did for Denny Duquette when he died at the end of season 2. This might not make sense since Izzy has been on the show all along, but like Dr. Alperstein mentioned, the over-exaggerated story lines take away from the realness of the show and diminishes the ability, in my opinion, of viewers to form relationships with the characters on the show.
I think that Grey’s Anatomy, like everything else in pop culture, has succumbed to idea that viewers need to be constantly on the edge of their seat with an unbelievable story line in order to be successful and get the highest ratings, and the way to get the highest ratings are by shocking and dramatizing every last piece of the plot. Basically, providing viewers with instant gratification. While I understand Grey’s Anatomy is a television drama and some things might not be entirely realistic, the writers are completely missing the idea of the build up. Grey’s Anatomy was much more engaging when story lines took a long time to develop and build, much more fulfilling to me as a viewer than episodes filled with constant drama and unreal situations.
However, television dramas like Grey’s Anatomy, as Dr. Alperstein mentioned, are a dying breed. Much more common are reality shows that range from cooking to dating to surviving. These types of shows are a very clear example of pop culture providing consumers with instant gratification at every turn. We quickly form bonds with characters on these shows, and we may be upset when they are “voted off” but we feel better in an hour and completely forget about that character by next week’s show. Then the show comes to a conclusion, there’s a winner, and everything is nicely tied up in six weeks. That is pretty instant gratification for TV if you ask me.
Also with reality shows, you can most likely start watching the show at any point in the series and catch up, pick your favorites and least favorites and form relationships to people on the show. For example, in the past season of The Bachelor, I didn’t watch one episode during the regular season. When I was home for spring break, the finale happened to be on. My mom and I watched the show and we were instantly involved in the show and felt just as strongly about Jason’s decision to dump Melissa for Molly as fans that had watched the show all along.
Reality TV allows viewers to quickly form relationships with people on the show, and just as quickly those relationships are severed and people move on to the next season and form new transitory relationships. My question is what effect will this have on our relationships with actual people in our real, authentic lives? Will we form more transitory, less meaningful and less enduring relationships with the people we meet and encounter because pop culture tells us there’s always something better coming along next? I hope not, as that would lead to a future of unfulfilled and fleeting relationships with people who could matter most in our real lives.
Maybe I am underestimating people; maybe people can make the distinction between imaginary social relationships and real, authentic social relationships. However, in a culture that has an increasingly difficult time discerning the unreal from the authentic, and with phenomenon like reality TV only adding to the confusion, I think only time will tell the true effects.
This past Thursday night I had a kind of reunion myself while watching prime time TV. I was watching NBC that night and seen a million advertisements over the past weeks about a new show they were airing called "Southland". This is a cop show about what is it really life for the police in Los Angeles.
The only real reason why I chose to watch it was that I saw that Ben Mackenzie was starring in it. You may remember him from the hit show "The OC" that went off the air a few years ago. He played the bad boy, heart-throb Ryan Atwood, but since then has not been seen in much, or nothing that I am aware of.
But since I saw that he was going to be in this drama I decided to watch is, as I was always a diehard fan of "The OC". I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised with what I found. The character he plays in somewhat similar to Ryan in the way that he is starting out on a whole new journey in a world that really opens his eyes. In "Southland" his character, also named Ben, is a rookie cop out on his first nights on these tough city streets. He sees and experiences things on the first night that he never had before, such as shooting and killing a man. In other ways his character is greatly different because he is a cop, meaning that so far he is a good guy and not such a rebel like Ryan's character was.
All in all I think that it is great to see Benjamin Mackenzie back on TV during primetime. I think it is apparent that he has grown as an actor and I look forward to watching the series and seeing how is progresses.
This type of reunion is probably my favorite because once one of your favorite shows is no more you often yearn for the actor to play some other character. It is sometimes weird seeing this actor play a different role. I think they did a good job casting him here in the way that he is a different character but hints of the same person show through and make fans of his want to watch. It is also probably true that fans of the OC have aged and matured since it was on so this type of show with a little more action and drama might be fitting for them.
After discussing this blogs in class, I thought hadn't personally experienced this type of reunion with a show and it's characters in my life. However, I began to think more about it and thought of a time when I was reunited with characters that I felt a connection to.
The best I could do with thinking of a personal experience would be with the show Sex and the City. Despite not havig HBO in my home, I became a fan of the show through collecting and watching the Sex and the City DVDs. I have collected seasons one through five and watched each episode numerous times. Thanks to the syndication of the show on TBS, I have also been abel to see all episodes of the sixth season despite not having HBO or the DVD set. I created a bond with the characters and the lives they lived and the relationship they had with one another. I was sad to learn that there would be no more seasons of the show - especially since I didn't catch on to the show until it was basiaclly on its last run on HBO.
I was thrilled however to find out they were reuniting the cast for a motion picture. It was enjoyable watching the cast together again. Not only did it reunite me with the show and its characters but it also felt like I was watching the actresses reunite with each other after separating to complete their own projects.
I am now hearing that there will be a second movie with Charlotte, Miranda, Samantha, and Carrie. I can not wait to see it because I will feel like I am able to catch up with the characters and see what they are doig now just as if I was at a school reunion of my own.
I have to admit that I use to be a huge fan of ER back in the day. Not because George Clooney was on the show, although he did add to my interest, but because the show was good drama. I watched it almost every Thursday night without fail with my older sisters. Eventually, like Professor Alperstein mentioned, the show got a bit exaggerated, similar to what is currently happening with Grey's Anatomy. Nevertheless, I always checked in to see what the upcoming episode was about and whether is was worth my precious time.
I will never forget the episode when Dr. Green died. Not only was it emotional, but at the same time in my own life, a close famly friend was dying of cancer. I guess this scene really struck at home because for about a week, I mourned the loss of Dr. Green and wondered how his daughter and wife were coping with their loss. Even though these were fictional characters, I grew to love them, undestand them, and relate to them in some way or another in my own life. I guess someone may argue that I had an imaginary relationship with these characters. While I may not necessarily call it that, I was touched and moved by these characters.
After the death of Dr. Green, I lost my interest in the show. It just didn't seem the same. Instead, I watched old episodes that aired on TNT where Dr. Green was still alive. I like Dr. Green's character and I really felt like he made ER what it was. Without him, it wasn't worth watching.
Like many other ER fans, I tuned into the last episode of the series and was so happy to see Dr. Green's daughter return to the hospital to follow in her father's footsteps. Since I had been so out of date with what was happening on the show, I found myself watching all the most recent episodes online, hoping to reestablish a connection with the "new" characters. I found the show to be pure entertainment and failed to make an emotional connection with anyone.
Either way, I am glad ER had as long as a run as it did. It was a great show and it kept the interest of many individuals. And even helped these individuals deal with their own life problems. I can only thank ER for that and congratulate it for being such a success.
After reading everyones response to this blog, it got me thinking about my connections to characters. I'm very into television and I pretty much give every show a try and I keep up with most shows. I, too, was a fan of ER when I was growing up. I only started watching it because my parents were very dedicated to the show and it was kind of the first 'adult' show I would watch with them. It was some what of a bonding experience with my parents. As I got older, I started watching the episodes on my own instead of with my parents. Maybe this displayed some type of independence or just showed we didn't need to bond as much anymore. However, whenever there was a commercial I usually went to the room where they were watching it and portrayed my shock and awe over what just happened.
I characterize this experience as a phase in my life when I was growing up and maybe 'breaking away' from my parents. I view ER as an integral part in getting to know my parents more because that was the time I would spend with them; it is what we would talk about.
Just as I moved on from ER, I think ER moved on as well. As a result of targeting many age groups, I think ER was a bonding experience for many people. The relationships formed with the characters helped people relate to their families or lives better. Many television shows do this, but ER was best known because of how long it was on tv. I think I always thought ER would be there just in case I wanted to 'relive' my teenage years. Now that it is over, a part of me is a little sad because it partially means I have to grow up.
This reunion with ER reminded me of my own reunion with Dawson's Creek, a teeny-bopper television show that reached its popularity before the age of Gossip Girl and 90210: The New Generation. I read Rachel's comment on the inability to form meaningful imaginary social relationships with characters because of their short-lived existence on TV, however I think that their show as a whole has a lasting impact on people's lives despite the fact that they are no longer dominating prime television.
For me, watching old episodes of Dawson's Creek was a comforting reminder of my tween days and how much I idolized these characters. Watching the show now, it surprises me how differently I feel about the characters and how much I know about their "real" lives post production of the show. Joey, Dawson, Pacey, Jen, and Jack were the monumental characters of my time that helped set a model of how teenagers live and interact with one another. People my age always use expressions such as "she is a Joey Potter" indicating a girl-next-door type.
The effect of the reunion allowed for some personal reflection in that I've grown from the person I was when the show aired. This show, in part, introduced me to the world of high school when I was in middle school and looking back (about to graduate college) I've learned and experienced some of the realities of the show which helped me understand and relate to the complexities of the characters better than before. The characters' experiences on the show prepared me for similar experiences of my own. Who would have thought Dawson's Creek would have lasting life lessons!
I actually used to watch this show a lot back in the 90s/early 2000s. I watched it religiously and knew all the plot lines, all the characters, and what was going on in all their relationships. I forget when it was (sometime when the station got new big competition) I fell off of my usual routine with the show. At first it wasn't as bad, and I could still watch an episode every once in a while when the other new show had a rerun. Then, after I hadn't seen the show in a few months, I tried picking up with the new season and everything was drastically different. There was maybe 2 characters that I had "known" before. I tried not to judge and pick up with the new characters, but for this show it was impossible. Everytime I start watching a new medical show such as Grey's Anatomy, I always think how I miss the more "real" nature of ER. This show always seemed more raw and factual based as opposed to the fluff and drama of Greys. I thought it was sad that ER had come to an end, but I feel almost as if when you completely change the cast after the show was at its high point, it's downhill from there.
After reading Joanne's comment, I thought back to my own re-discovery of certain shows, one of them actually being Dawson's Creek. To me, it's interesting to see how different shows relate to different generations. For instance, parents may like ER and have been interested in the show for it's entire 15 year run. Parents may also like watching re-runs from shows they watched as kids.
Personally, I have my own shows I like to watch now, but I also love watching re-runs from shows of my childhood. Like Joanne, I re-discovered Dawson's Creek when my mom bought my younger sister the first and second seasons. Being 17 years old now, she never experienced this phenomena. Instead of her watching the DVDs, I ran upstairs to watch them, loving the fact that I knew the story line and was familiar with all of the characters.
This ability to reconnect and be familiar with characters and story lines is what I think brings people back to old shows. Though I like being on the edge of my seat not knowing what is coming up in the next episode of my shows today, I love being able to sit down and watch a show I can predict.
While reading through everyone's comments, I noticed a particular reunion of sorts that wasn't mentioned: Reality TV show reunions. I would not say that I am an avid reality television fan, but over the past several years, I can admit that I have watched certain reality shows more attentively than others. And if anyone knows anything about reality TV, whenever the season ends, you can always expect that there will be an hour-long reunion special, catching up with the characters and providing a more conclusive end to the season finale.
One show that really comes to mind in terms of reunions is MTV's hit series The Real World. When I was in high school, I used to follow the real world very closely and become familiar with the castmates and their crazy lives each and every season. Upon entering college, not only did I stop watching as much TV, but I really lost interest in The Real World, and missed several of the most recent seasons.
Just this past Easter break, I was home and I happened to be flipping through the channels when I stopped on MTV. Apparently a new season of "The Duel," a reality show which pits past members of the Real World/Road Rules together for the ultimate challenge and grand prize of a couple thousand dollars.
Maybe it was boredom, or just pure curiosity, but after years of not watching this show, I somehow felt very compelled to watch the season premiere episode of The Duel. Many of the contestants were familiar faces, easily recognizable from previous seasons that I had actually watched. But others, were new and unfamiliar, and it seemed a little strange to see them on the show, since I didn't know much about them.
I guess this would be called a reunion, because it brought back alot of memories regarding the castmasts, and their lives, and who was dating whom, and who hated whom, and it took me right back to the world of reality that I thought I had left behind for good.
In the literal sense, following this premiere episode was an actually "reunion" show of sorts, bringing together 6 members of the current contestants to talk about the episode that had just aired and give insight into what was going on behind the scenes, and where they stand now. It was obvious that the reunion taping was either live or much more recent in comparison to the airing of The Duel, because many of the cast members looked different.
Like Dr. Alperstein mentioned, there are very few long-running television shows airing today but MTV's reality hit the Real World seems to be one that has endured over twenty seasons of seven strangers picked to live together, and have their lives taped. To me, this was the first ever real form of reality television in the TV show format, so it seems fitting that it would also be something for which reunions are necessary. And while cast members faces fade away, the minute you see them back on the screen, everything about their character seems to come back to life.
While television dramas are a very different genre of television, I don't think it is fair to totally overlook reality television as a reunion of sorts. I'm sure that there are many other reality shows, (like the Bachelor, and American Idol, and even Survivor), that have fans who enjoy going back to them and having a reunion with the show, even if it had been several seasons since they last watched.
In terms of my personal reunion with The Real World and its sister programs, I can't say that it made me want to continue to watch this season of The Duel, or even keep up with the show, but it did bring back alot of memories about why I used to so avidly follow these people's lives, and for the hour that it was on television, it was quite entertaining.
Believe it or not, the first thing I thought of in terms of reuniting with "old friends" was the Real World. Recently, another installment of the Real World/Road Rules Challenge started, reuniting old cast members to compete for money. They generally use the same people, so between seeing some of these people on their respective shows, then seeing them compete in these challenges week after week, it becomes more of a long lasting relationship than one might think.
Granted, these are shows where people are voted off. But generally, if you like someone enough in these types of programs, they will come back in some fashion.
Reality TV seems to be slowly catching on to this idea of bringing back popular and familiar faces to draw in fans and ratings. Both "Big Brother" and "survivor" had All Star shows where they brought back popular faces from past seasons. Too a certain degree, despite characters on reality TV not having much of a shelf life, producers have found ways to make their 15 minutes more like a half hour. People will continue to tune into their favorite reality reunions to see friends they haven't been in touch with for a while. I relate it to meeting a good friend on a vacation; you may not have long together, but you spent a great amount of time with each other and learn a lot a long the way. If you were to see them again, it would be pretty refreshing. Reality characters definitely hold a more prominent place with me.
Post a Comment